DUCKS
Fascinating facts
a Resource pack
by Christine Sladden and Peter Worrall
Registered charity No.263156 www.waterfowl.org.uk Tel. 01531 671250
THE MALLARD - FACT SHEET
It is the commonest and most widely distributed duck, often called
the wild duck.
HABITAT
It lives in a wide variety of freshwater and marine sites, including coastal bays,
estuaries, lakes, rivers, gravel pits, reservoirs, ponds, ditches and even city parks.
DESCRIPTION
One of the largest British duck found in the wild, it is around 57 cm long. During the
winter the drake is easy to spot, with his bright green head, white neck ring, rusty
breast and grey body. He has a yellow bill. The female can be identified by her bright
blue speculum bordered with white. Her beak is a greenish yellow. Both sexes have
orange legs and feet. Juveniles resemble the female apart from the bill colour which is
reddish-brown. After the breeding season, in midsummer and early autumn the drake
is in eclipse. That means he loses his bright colours and looks much like the duck
except that he keeps his yellow bill.
VOICE
Duck - a loud "quack", drake a softer higher-pitched "queek".
FOOD
Like most humans, the mallard is omnivorous. This means that it eats both plants and
animals. Its feeding is as varied as its diet. It upends for waterweed and small water
creatures and also dabbles for these. It grubs for invertebrates (e.g. slugs and worms)
and for rotten potatoes and often flies inland at night to graze on meadows and young
corn.
BREEDING
The birds pair up following courtship displays by the males, which include rapid
swimming, head flicking and bill dipping. Nests are well hidden, lined with grass, quite
often in reeds or other vegetation close to the water. Usually 10 - 12 eggs are laid.
Incubation takes 27 - 28 days. The ducklings are covered with down when they hatch
and can walk and feed within 24 hours. The female broods them at night. They fly and
become independent at about 8 weeks.
MOVEMENT
Mallards are strong fliers and take off almost vertically. They have a fast - beating
flight action and can be heard at quite a distance.
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HOW DO DUCKS SWIM?
1. WHY DO THEY NOT SINK?
In proportion to their size all birds are very light. This enables them to fly and swim.
For birds, ducks are heavy, but like all other birds they have light hollow bones
which are full of air. If you have a chance to compare chicken bones with those of a
mammal you will see how light and strong they are.
Their weight is also spread over a large area. If you have ever done any work on
floating and sinking you will probably have done an experiment with plasticine.
EXPERIMENT A
A ball of plasticine sinks to the
bottom. Using the same size ball
of plasticine and making it into a
boat you should succeed in
getting it to float
EXPERIMENT B
In experiment B you can see the effect air
has on floating and sinking. The loosely
crumpled foil ball contains air, so it floats. If
you can crumple it tightly enough to
exclude most of the air- it sinks
Experiment B also shows you something which helps ducks to float. As well as air
passing into their bones and in their lungs they can also trap air under their feathers.
2. WHY DO THEIR FEATHERS NOT GET WET?
If you have ever seen a chicken in the rain you know what “you look like a wet hen "
means. Ducks do not get miserably wet like this as they have an oil gland near the tail
with which they oil their feathers. If you watch you will see them getting the oil on their
beaks and preening their feathers with it.
Here is an experiment to show the effect of the oil.
You need a paper towel, a small amount of cooking oil and a few drops of water.
Make a small patch of oil on your paper towel. Put a drop of water on the oiled patch
and another drop on an unoiled patch. Watch for a few seconds to see what happens.
Does this help you to see why ducks' feathers do not get waterlogged?
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MOVING THROUGH THE WATER
BODY SHAPE
Look at the shapes of the ducks shown here.
Quite a lot of the Mallard's body is under the
water. Ducks are clumsy on land, but they are
well adapted for swimming. What do you think
it is about their bodies which helps them to
glide through the water ? Are there any sharp
angles on the body of a duck, or is it made up
of smooth curves?
Which boat shape do you think would move most easily through
the water? If you have toy boats or can make some, it is
interesting to see which shape is most streamlined. You do
need a large water tray or better still a swimming pool to do this
FEET
experiment properly.
Have you ever used flippers to help you swim? If you have,
you will have some idea of how webbed feet push a duck
through the water. The action of the feet and legs is rather
like walking, although sometimes both legs are used
together. As the leg comes forward, the foot is folded so it
passes through the water easily. To turn, the duck paddles
more strongly one side as you do if you go rowing. Watch
ducks swimming and you will see how quickly they can
maneuver in the water.
DIVING
The ducks shown above in silhouette merely upend. To the
left you can see a duck which actually dives. Compare the
shape with the ducks above and see why you think it is
better adapted for diving
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FROM EGG TO DUCKLING
WHY DO BIRDS LAY EGGS?
Most birds fly, all birds lay eggs. Mammals give birth to their young live.
Why do you think birds lay eggs rather than give birth to live young?
CLUE - flight.
THE NEST
It is the female duck who builds the nest. Once a place for the nest is chosen she
builds it by collecting any material which is close at hand. Ducks do not travel far from
the nest to collect material (would you say this is true of most birds or not?) Once built
the nest is lined with DOWN - small feathers which the female duck plucks from her
belly. This not only provides a warm lining to the nest, but leaves a bare patch on her
belly. This is known as a brood patch. Why do you think this brood patch is important
for incubating the eggs? Incubating means to keep the eggs warm, so they will grow
and develop into ducklings.
THE EGGS
Once the nest has been built, the duck lays one or two eggs each day until she has a
complete clutch. This can be anything from 5 - 15 eggs. The female waits until she
has completed her clutch before she starts to incubate her eggs. Why do you think
she waits until the clutch is complete before starting to incubate the eggs?
HATCHING
A few days before the eggs are due to hatch the ducklings begin to pip and the
mother duck calls back to them. Using the egg tooth and a great deal of pushing and
stretching the duckling forces its way out of the egg shell. It can have been growing
and developing for anything between 25 and 35 days and will be damp and slimy. It
quickly dries out under its mother's feathers and within hours of hatching has a coat of
fluffy down and is ready to meet the world.
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DAY 1 The spherical yolk floats in the fluid albumen (the
white of the egg). The early embryo develops as a spot at
the top, nearest the heat from the incubating adult.
DAY 3 The tiny heart, with main blood vessels already
formed, is actively beating only three days after the egg
is laid and before the duckling is recognizable.
DAY 9 Oxygen which has passed through the pores of the
shell and nutrients from the yolk are fed to the developing
duckling through a fine hair-like mass of blood vessels.
DAY 15 The yolk reduces in size as the duckling takes on a
recognizable form. The eye is the dominant feature but
other details especially the bill and feet are visible.
DAY 20 the largest feature of the fully developed duckling is
the foot. On DAY 27 (for the Mallard) the duckling cracks the
eggshell with a tiny egg tooth and emerges into the world.
Ducklings, goslings and cygnets are known as
PRECOCIOUS. This means that when they hatch they are
covered with down and can walk, swim and feed.
Many other birds, such as thrushes and sparrows, hatch
naked, often blind and need to be fed by their parents.
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DOMESTIC, ORNAMENTAL AND WILD DUCKS (Background information)
Wild ducks are any ducks living in their natural habitat or countries of origin.
Ornamental ducks are wild ducks from all over the world kept by people as a hobby.
Mandarin ducks, which have gone wild in England, are also classed as ornamental as
they originate from E.Asia. Mandarins are now classed as a British species. There are
more mandarins in the UK now than in their native China.
Domestic ducks. It is thought that all domestic ducks except the Muscovy are
descended from the Mallard. The French Rouen duck is exactly like the Mallard in
colour but much bigger. The white English farmyard duck is probably a sport of the
Mallard. The white mallard may have had other characteristics which caused it to be
popular and therefore bred from. This white duck was further improved to give the
Aylesbury- the best known table bird. The best known egg-layer, the Khaki Campbell,
was bred by Mrs. Campbell of Uley in Gloucestershire and introduced in 1901. White
hybrid ducks are probably the only ones kept commercially in Britain today.
DOMESTIC DUCKS IN HISTORY
China . It is likely that duck keeping started here.
1 AD in Rome. Columnella wrote " When anyone is desirous of establishing a
duckery, it is a very old mode to collect the eggs of Teal, Mallard etc. and to place
them under common hens, for the young thus hatched and reared cast off their wild
tempers".
Norman Conquest. Duck keeping in France predates this - but not common in
England until 12th or 13th Century. Probably a Norman introduction.
Middle Ages. Ducks commonly kept with other poultry. Rather despised as "Grosse
greedy and filthy feeders”
18th Century. Vale of Aylesbury became famous for white ducks for the London
market. Traditionally eaten at Whitsun with young peas. By the end of the 18th century
loads of ducks were also going up twice weekly from Peterborough and St Ives.
19th Century. Great interest in foreign poultry including ducks. Ship's captain brought
in Pekin ducks from China. This was used to invigorate the Aylsbury strain, weak
through inbreeding. This is the premier table breed in the USA. The Pekin can tolerate
extremes of heat and cold and though slower to mature than the Aylesbury this makes
it most suitable for the USA.
Indian Runner ducks were brought from Malaya in 1870's and were the main egg
laying duck until the Khaki Campbell appeared. These ducks are still bred by
enthusiasts. Other ducks from abroad include Cayuga, Blue Swedish, Saxony. Ducks
bred in Britain include Welsh Harlequin (from 2 sports of a Khaki Campbell flock)
Silver Appleyard, bred by Mr. Reg Appleyard. All ducks mentioned are bred by
enthusiasts today.
Names of wild ducks come from:
Country of origin - Brazilian Teal, Bahama Pintail, Habitat - Torrent Duck.
Plumage details - Spectacled Eider, Chestnut teal. Behaviour - Shoveler
Call - Whistling Duck. After a famous ornithologist - Barrow's Goldeneye.
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